Michele Lawrence, Program Director

Through her own journey of Self-discovery, Michele has come to realize that yoga is a practice for all life situations. She believes in yoga’s ability to heal and transform, and that yoga, regardless of one’s ability, is available to all. Michele has been teaching yoga for over 10 years, is co-owner of Yogadurango, a successful studio in Durango, CO and the founder/director of Inner Peace Yoga Therapy.

Hamsa Gooderham, Program Assistant Facilitator

Hamsa (CYT, ERYT500) has been teaching yoga for 20 years and working as a Yoga Therapist for 8 years, certified by the Ananda Seva Mission. She works in conjunction with other health professionals at an alternative health clinic in her community in southern British Columbia. Combining Thai Massage, Cranial-Sacral, and Healing Touch modalities into her Therapeutic Yoga sessions, Hamsa’s work is compassionate, intelligent and deeply connected to Spirit. Hamsa believes firmly in the transformational potential of a balanced practice as a portal to our True Nature and the Divine. Her classes are imbued with humor, spontaneity, and wisdom, energized by a conspiracy of Love. She is committed to finding ways for all people to awaken to, and embrace, the intelligence of their body-mind to facilitate consciousness evolution. She lives in the mountains of southwestern BC, on a 10 acre farm with horses and dogs.

Jessica Patterson, Program Assistant Facilitator

Jessica Patterson has been practicing and discovering yoga for more than 22 years, during which time she has had the great privilege of exploring many methods, approaches and teachers. Her formal training as a teacher began with a 200-hour program in Colorado Springs. As her own yoga practice deepened, so too did her understanding of its profound transformative and regenerative power. She sought out more and more opportunities to learn and grow as both practitioner and teacher, pursuing training with diverse teachers across lineage and tradition. Jessica completed her certification as a Yoga Therapist through the Inner Peace Yoga Therapy program in 2013, and has co-facilitated the Austin and Asheville programs as contributing faculty. Her work as a Yoga Therapist complements and expands what she is able to offer individuals and groups. As founder and director of the 6-month, 200+ hour RootEd Apprenticeship Teacher Training Program, Jessica leads small intimate groups of students more deeply into the embodied experience of yoga. And in 2015, she opened Root: Center for Yoga and Sacred Studies, a Colorado Springs-based sanctuary for the community that has inspired her work all of these years.

Lisa Bergly, Program Assistant, Facilitator Mentor

Lisa Bergly, Swami Swarupananda, is a teacher whose light transcends the classroom environment. Lisa has been teaching since 1999, her students, many of whom have practiced under her nurturing guidance for the past decade or longer, continue to benefit from Lisa’s teachings on and off the mat. Her hatha-styled yoga classes are fun, challenging and informative. Her healing touch and therapeutic knowledge and skill set are the perfect pairing in her heartfelt yoga therapy work. Lisa’s approach to sharing the teachings of yoga are based on over 2,000 hours of accumulative hatha yoga teacher trainings and advanced yoga therapeutics teacher trainings. Lisa is the owner/director of Spirit of the Lake Yoga Wellness Center in Excelsior, MN, where she teaches yoga classes, has a yoga therapy practice and offers specialty workshops and dharma talks to the surrounding community. Lisa also leads yoga retreats including Pilgrimages to India, and offers yoga teacher training programs through Spirit of the Lake Yoga and One Spirit Center for Sacred Study. She is a graduate of the 300 hour Inner Peace Yoga Therapy Program.

Sarah Martin, Program Assistant

Sarah has been diving into the deep tradition of yoga since 2001 and began teaching in 2009. She completed her 200-hour teacher training in Minneapolis, 500-hour training with certification in Yoga Therapy through Inner Peace Yoga Therapy, and has additional training in Prenatal Yoga, Kids Yoga, ParaYoga, Reiki, and Yoga as Medicine. Sarah is currently on faculty of a 200 hour and 500 hour teacher training where she resides in Minneapolis, MN. She is also a practicing Physician Assistant integrating Eastern and Western Medicine. She enjoys teaching yoga anatomy and educating others on the intimate link of mind, body and spirit in living life to the fullest.

Stevi Self, Program Assistant

Stevi Self (ERYT-500, CYT) is a certified yoga instructor and certified yoga therapist with 12 years experience. She is the co-owner of Southern Star Yoga Center in Oxford, MS where she teaches a variety of classes for special needs–including prenatal yoga. Stevi is the mother of three beautiful children: Riley (11), Raina (9), and Jaden (7). She completed her first teacher training when she was pregnant with her oldest child. “I owe the ease of three successful home-births in part to my genetics but also to my daily yoga practice. During pregnancy yoga helped me to feel comfortable in my body, and during labor it was a source of personal strength. Yoga showed me how to surrender to the innate wisdom that exists within me. In essence, it taught me how to get out of my own way.” She is a member of the Yoga Alliance and the International Association of Yoga Therapists.

Theresa Conroy, Program Mentor

In January 2007, Theresa left her reporting job at the Philadelphia Daily News to teach yoga full-time. She was driven to share the benefits yoga has brought to her life. With the support of her yoga practice, Theresa quit smoking, shed 50 pounds and overcame an anxiety disorder. She trained as a Yoga Therapist with Inner Peace Yoga Therapy and Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy. She is trained to teach Adaptive Yoga for Disabilities, which includes instructing those with spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy, stroke, MS, Parkinsons and other conditions. She is also a certified Core Strength Vinyasa teacher and runs a Yoga Teacher Training to teach Yoga for Parkinsons Disease.

Dr. Sue Dilsworth, Program Mentor

Dr. Sue Dilsworth is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Certified Yoga Therapist working in the Greater Grand Rapids area. Sue has worked as a psychologist in university settings, non-profit agencies and private practice for the past 17 years. Sue has trained extensively with Amy Weintraub and has served as a faculty member for the LifeForce Yoga Practitioner Training Level 1. Sue is also a graduate of the 300 hour Inner Peace Yoga Therapy program. Clinically, Sue is a holistic health practitioner that establishes treatment protocols that are specifically designed to meet individual needs. Yoga and yoga therapy are the perfect adjunct to her clinical practice. Sue is passionate about helping people take a break from telling their stories and finding greater meaning as they explore their SatNam through mindfulness based practices. Sue is the owner of Heart’s Journey Wellness Center in Allendale, MI.

Michele Lawrence, Program Director

Through her own journey of Self-discovery, Michele has come to realize that yoga is a practice for all life situations. She believes in yoga’s ability to heal and transform, and that yoga, regardless of one’s ability, is available to all. Michele has been teaching yoga for over 10 years, is co-owner of Yogadurango, a successful studio in Durango, CO and the founder/director of Inner Peace Yoga Therapy.

Hamsa Gooderham, Program Assistant Facilitator

Hamsa (CYT, ERYT500) has been teaching yoga for 20 years and working as a Yoga Therapist for 8 years, certified by the Ananda Seva Mission. She works in conjunction with other health professionals at an alternative health clinic in her community in southern British Columbia. Combining Thai Massage, Cranial-Sacral, and Healing Touch modalities into her Therapeutic Yoga sessions, Hamsa’s work is compassionate, intelligent and deeply connected to Spirit. Hamsa believes firmly in the transformational potential of a balanced practice as a portal to our True Nature and the Divine. Her classes are imbued with humor, spontaneity, and wisdom, energized by a conspiracy of Love. She is committed to finding ways for all people to awaken to, and embrace, the intelligence of their body-mind to facilitate consciousness evolution. She lives in the mountains of southwestern BC, on a 10 acre farm with horses and dogs.

Jessica Patterson, Program Assistant Facilitator

Jessica Patterson has been practicing and discovering yoga for more than 22 years, during which time she has had the great privilege of exploring many methods, approaches and teachers. Her formal training as a teacher began with a 200-hour program in Colorado Springs. As her own yoga practice deepened, so too did her understanding of its profound transformative and regenerative power. She sought out more and more opportunities to learn and grow as both practitioner and teacher, pursuing training with diverse teachers across lineage and tradition. Jessica completed her certification as a Yoga Therapist through the Inner Peace Yoga Therapy program in 2013, and has co-facilitated the Austin and Asheville programs as contributing faculty. Her work as a Yoga Therapist complements and expands what she is able to offer individuals and groups. As founder and director of the 6-month, 200+ hour RootEd Apprenticeship Teacher Training Program, Jessica leads small intimate groups of students more deeply into the embodied experience of yoga. And in 2015, she opened Root: Center for Yoga and Sacred Studies, a Colorado Springs-based sanctuary for the community that has inspired her work all of these years.

Lisa Bergly, Program Assistant, Facilitator Mentor

Lisa Bergly, Swami Swarupananda, is a teacher whose light transcends the classroom environment. Lisa has been teaching since 1999, her students, many of whom have practiced under her nurturing guidance for the past decade or longer, continue to benefit from Lisa’s teachings on and off the mat. Her hatha-styled yoga classes are fun, challenging and informative. Her healing touch and therapeutic knowledge and skill set are the perfect pairing in her heartfelt yoga therapy work. Lisa’s approach to sharing the teachings of yoga are based on over 2,000 hours of accumulative hatha yoga teacher trainings and advanced yoga therapeutics teacher trainings. Lisa is the owner/director of Spirit of the Lake Yoga Wellness Center in Excelsior, MN, where she teaches yoga classes, has a yoga therapy practice and offers specialty workshops and dharma talks to the surrounding community. Lisa also leads yoga retreats including Pilgrimages to India, and offers yoga teacher training programs through Spirit of the Lake Yoga and One Spirit Center for Sacred Study. She is a graduate of the 300 hour Inner Peace Yoga Therapy Program.

Sarah Martin, Program Assistant

Sarah has been diving into the deep tradition of yoga since 2001 and began teaching in 2009. She completed her 200-hour teacher training in Minneapolis, 500-hour training with certification in Yoga Therapy through Inner Peace Yoga Therapy, and has additional training in Prenatal Yoga, Kids Yoga, ParaYoga, Reiki, and Yoga as Medicine. Sarah is currently on faculty of a 200 hour and 500 hour teacher training where she resides in Minneapolis, MN. She is also a practicing Physician Assistant integrating Eastern and Western Medicine. She enjoys teaching yoga anatomy and educating others on the intimate link of mind, body and spirit in living life to the fullest.

Stevi Self, Program Assistant

Stevi Self (ERYT-500, CYT) is a certified yoga instructor and certified yoga therapist with 12 years experience. She is the co-owner of Southern Star Yoga Center in Oxford, MS where she teaches a variety of classes for special needs–including prenatal yoga. Stevi is the mother of three beautiful children: Riley (11), Raina (9), and Jaden (7). She completed her first teacher training when she was pregnant with her oldest child. “I owe the ease of three successful home-births in part to my genetics but also to my daily yoga practice. During pregnancy yoga helped me to feel comfortable in my body, and during labor it was a source of personal strength. Yoga showed me how to surrender to the innate wisdom that exists within me. In essence, it taught me how to get out of my own way.” She is a member of the Yoga Alliance and the International Association of Yoga Therapists.

Theresa Conroy, Program Mentor

In January 2007, Theresa left her reporting job at the Philadelphia Daily News to teach yoga full-time. She was driven to share the benefits yoga has brought to her life. With the support of her yoga practice, Theresa quit smoking, shed 50 pounds and overcame an anxiety disorder. She trained as a Yoga Therapist with Inner Peace Yoga Therapy and Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy. She is trained to teach Adaptive Yoga for Disabilities, which includes instructing those with spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy, stroke, MS, Parkinsons and other conditions. She is also a certified Core Strength Vinyasa teacher and runs a Yoga Teacher Training to teach Yoga for Parkinsons Disease.

Dr. Sue Dilsworth, Program Mentor

Dr. Sue Dilsworth is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Certified Yoga Therapist working in the Greater Grand Rapids area. Sue has worked as a psychologist in university settings, non-profit agencies and private practice for the past 17 years. Sue has trained extensively with Amy Weintraub and has served as a faculty member for the LifeForce Yoga Practitioner Training Level 1. Sue is also a graduate of the 300 hour Inner Peace Yoga Therapy program. Clinically, Sue is a holistic health practitioner that establishes treatment protocols that are specifically designed to meet individual needs. Yoga and yoga therapy are the perfect adjunct to her clinical practice. Sue is passionate about helping people take a break from telling their stories and finding greater meaning as they explore their SatNam through mindfulness based practices. Sue is the owner of Heart’s Journey Wellness Center in Allendale, MI.